In doing this, you must not only see the completed manuscript, but you must allow yourself to experience the satisfaction and the excitement of being done.

This simple exercise will get you prepared for the work at hand by making you more comfortable with getting to the end.

2. No Turning Back

Once you sit down and begin your journey of completing your book, you have to take away any urge to backtrack.

What do I mean by backtracking?

Simple: YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ERASE/DELETE ANYTHING YOU WRITE!!!

I know you’re like, “Whhhaaaaaatttttt???”

Oftentimes when we sit down to write, our perfectionist selves will have the urge to fix as we go. Unfortunately, constantly fixing and tweaking your work as you write does nothing but slow you down and in many cases discourage you from finishing at all.

Trust me when I tell you, you’ll have plenty of time to edit and fiddle with your work in the editing phase.

For now, you need to focus on writing and finishing your book.

So, whatever you need to do to make sure you don’t go backward, I implore you to try.

If that means, cutting off the eraser on your pencil, removing the backspace key from your keyboard, or hiding the white out from yourself; do what needs to be done.

3. Outlines Help

For those of you who are anything like me and get stuck while writing, an outline is a way to go.

I’m not talking about the outlines we learned about in school with Roman numerals, Big A’s, Little A’s and numbers. Although, if you’re comfortable with the traditional outline, have at it. 😀

I’m talking about a simple outline.

Start with Chapter 1, and jot down what you would like to happen and with what characters. Don’t be too serious about it all. Remember, you can always change things later.

After you jot down simple sentences for Chapter 1, move on to Chapter 2. Keep going until you’re reached the end of the book.

From there, flesh out each chapter by expanding on the sentences you jotted down.

Keep doing this until you’re done and satisfied with what you’ve come up with.

It’s so easy, a kid could do it. And you can do it too.

4. Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff

Similar to the NO DELETING rule, don’t sweat the things that can be altered later. Your goal is to finish your book in 30 days or less.

What I mean is, things like character names and specifics can always be accommodated for.

If you can’t think of a name for a character, don’t pull your hair out. Simply place a filler such as Character Yellow, Jane Doe or Red-Headed Guy, until you can go back and do a once over.

The Filler Method works well with places and things (i.e. the east bridge, small car, the train station, day job, etc.)

Remember: There is time to go back to add names to people, places, and things. So don’t agonize over it.

If you are truly serious about getting your manuscript done in 30 days or less, these tips will get you there.

Notice how all of them have to do with your mindset and making sure that you are in the right headspace to get things accomplished.

While many people think you have to be some sort of genius to complete a book, you actually only have to possess 5 traits to accomplish such an objective.

You must have the ability to visualize your goal, the decisiveness to move forward without looking back, the courage to plan ahead, the strength to overlook the small stuff and the fearlessness to believe in your gifts as a writer.

If you have all these characteristics, you are well on your way to finish your book in 30 days or less.